That Is How You Swear Loyalty to Your Dear One

This process... was truly interesting!

Olivia smiled. "I hope you can offer terms that satisfy me."

Rhine nodded. "I am a Prince of the Hain Empire. Once I take power, I will devote myself to managing your religion in the mortal world on your behalf, offering you ample pleasure and indulgence."

Olivia said flatly, "Mm. Everyone who pledges loyalty to me says that."

Rhine calmly added, "But beyond that, I swear that within ten years of my ascension, your glory will spread alongside the Hain Empire to every corner of the earth!"

The moment those words were spoken, Olivia was shaken.

Even Constance, who had remained silent at his side, stared at Rhine in astonishment.

"You bastard..."

Olivia narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Rhine closely.

An interesting fellow...

Olivia suddenly realized that she could not quite see through this mortal anymore.

One sentence from Rhine had made her fully understand Rhine Hyun's purpose in seeking cooperation with her.

Rhine intended to do something utterly insane—something that could only possibly succeed with the support of a god.

Olivia did not know whether this debauched Prince, who spent his days immersed in wine and women, had shot all his brains out from below, or whether he truly was a promising future ruler...

"You want to use my power to unify the mortal world?"

Olivia smiled.

"You must be insane. Order will kill you. She will reduce you to ashes, then nail your soul to a Crystal Spear and make you suffer forever!"

Order's Weakness

[Order]

Among all the gods of the Nether Realm and the active gods, she was unquestionably the strongest.

At the same time, she was the chief god worshipped by the Hain Empire.

It was this goddess who, thousands of years ago, had contributed her own bloodline and taught the Hain Empire how to mass-produce demigods.

Even to this day, she continuously bestowed blessings upon Hain's demigods, ensuring that the purity of their bloodlines would not weaken with the passage of time.

She was the founder of the Hain Empire. It could be said that the Hain Empire had become the strongest great power of the age entirely due to the Goddess of Order's grace.

Nor had the Hain Empire disappointed Order's expectations. From top to bottom, the nation held an unwavering faith in Order and carried out every one of her divine decrees with absolute commitment.

And the reason Order had created the strongest empire in the mortal world...

Naturally, it could not possibly have been because the people of the Hain Empire were devout or steadfast in faith.

It was to preserve the balance of the mortal world.

Just as her true name implied...

What Order pursued was absolute stability.

Given humanity's inherent flaws, if the mortal world were unified, these humans would naturally never be satisfied with that alone.

The flames of war would only spread toward the heavens, until they reached the palaces of the gods.

That was something the gods did not wish to see.

And the god responsible for managing the mortal world and preventing such a catastrophe was Order.

The simplest way to describe her method of managing the mortal world was this: she cleverly propped up several great powers that hated one another, making them oppose and restrain each other in order to maintain a perilous balance.

And the Hain Empire...

Was Order's final regulating mechanism for maintaining that dangerous balance.

The Hain Empire's Demigod Imperial Guard possessed the strongest military power in the mortal world and could ignore the distance of space, instantly deploying to every corner of the world.

This allowed Hain to swiftly correct any deviation in that precarious balance with thunderous force.

Thus...

The mortal world could continue operating perfectly within the closed ecological cycle created by Order.

Hain's function was important to Order,

But Order did not particularly care about Hain itself or its believers.

Simply put,

Order might not necessarily protect Hain when the Hain Empire faced a crisis.

But when the Hain Empire broke free of her control, she would inevitably feel a powerful urge to spare no effort in destroying it.

That was precisely why Olivia thought Rhine was insane.

If Rhine wanted to unify the mortal world, he would inevitably invite Order's hostility.

She was the strongest god of the age.

Even Olivia would never go looking for trouble with her for no reason.

However...

What Olivia did not say was that although Divine Punishment of Order would certainly destroy any defiant being...

It would not happen now.

And Rhine knew that perfectly well.

Rhine said, "Order is willing to watch the nations of the mortal world wage war and slaughter one another. She will not tolerate the mortal world being unified. However..."

Rhine smiled. "Lady Olivia, why test me? You clearly know that the Goddess of Order's eyes are not watching the mortal world at all right now."

"Ha..."

Olivia smiled without letting it show.

This Prince even knew that?

Olivia's gaze shifted slightly as she looked at Shia Constance—the Demigod Imperial Guard standing beside Rhine—with an ambiguous smile.

Constance was a woman who understood the rules. Throughout the entire conversation, she had faithfully maintained her identity as an attendant and had not uttered a single unnecessary word regarding Rhine's discussion with the evil god.

Even though she was already panicked and disordered within, nearly suffocated by Rhine's dangerously blasphemous words.

"What a beautiful child..."

Olivia admired the demigod girl's body, especially those blue eyes of hers...

The proof that Order was currently offline...

Was Shia Constance.

Because if Order's eyes were still overlooking the mortal world...

Then the instant Constance was born, she would have been erased from the world by a Crystal Spear cast down by Order.

Yet now, this girl was still alive and well.

She had even, in an irony unknown to everyone, become an Imperial Guard that believed in Order.

The Demigod's Fall, Supreme Pleasure

At this point...

Olivia's assessment of Rhine had come to an end.

Having understood Rhine's intentions and more or less confirmed that he was not merely a complete idiot...

Olivia decided to accept Rhine's cooperation.

"As you wish, Rhine Hyun. I shall grant you power as an extraordinary contractor, providing you with support and advice... Heh, let us work together for mutual benefit."

Having said that, Olivia abruptly changed the subject.

Olivia said, "But forget about unifying the mortal world. I do not believe you have that capability."

Rhine said, "But you just said that you would help me?"

Olivia smiled, naked seduction in her expression. "I need you to offer me more practical sacrifices, Rhine Hyun. The mortal world is beyond your reach as you are now. How about... starting our cooperation with a few small matters close at hand?"

Rhine already knew what this bitch wanted.

But he still had to put on an innocent expression.

"You mean...?"

Olivia said, "I heard that the Imperial Guards of the Hain Empire must remain chaste for their faith?"

Rhine said, "Yes. They are the goddess's incarnations in the mortal world. Falling in love with mortals is an act of blasphemy against the goddess—something the cathedral will never permit."

Of course...

Except when they were breeding.

Basically, every Imperial Guard of the Hain Empire was forbidden from having any intimate relationship with the opposite sex throughout her life. This was not only due to faith, but also because of practical interests.

The Demigod Imperial Guard possessed the purest goddess bloodline in the entire empire. They would almost certainly become the mothers of the next generation of Imperial Guards.

Demigods were ultimately not true gods. Without one hundred percent pure blood, they still had a limited lifespan, one not much different from that of mortals—and perhaps even shorter.

Therefore, during a Demigod Imperial Guard's tenure, whether she could give birth to a suitably qualified successor under the cathedral's arrangements was the foremost concern of both the Hain Empire and the State Religion Cathedral.

In such an environment...

There was naturally no room for the Demigod Imperial Guards to pursue free love.

The Demigod Imperial Guards could be arrogant and tyrannical, extort whatever they wished, and use all manner of methods to satisfy their desires. Even if that went against secular morality, it was not much of a problem.

The Hain Empire was vast enough to accommodate a few bastard perverts.

But love—or rather, lust.

Those were the two things the Imperial Guards could never touch.

However...

Precisely because they were absolute taboos...

Breaking them was all the more pleasurable!

Olivia licked her lips, revealing a greedy smile.

"What I desire is the fall of the Imperial Guards—the moment they break their taboos and abandon their faith... That instant of pleasure will be the sweetest sacrifice in the entire mortal world!"

Merely describing it in words had already made Olivia's heart race with excitement.

Olivia said, "Rhine Hyun, I need you to make every Imperial Guard fall in love with you and willingly break the cathedral's ironclad laws to offer themselves to you. That is my condition. Every time you present such a spectacle to me, I will bestow upon you the highest level of blessing."

Olivia smiled. "Well? If you do not even have the courage to sleep with a few incarnations of the goddess, how could I possibly believe that you can unify the mortal world?"

Olivia might have believed that her unreasonable demand to shatter the Hain Imperial Guard's millennia-old tradition of chastity would put pressure on Rhine Hyun.

However...

Olivia's request was exactly what Rhine wanted.

What Olivia anticipated was the moment the Imperial Guards fell.

What Rhine anticipated was the love and loyalty the Imperial Guards would offer him unconditionally after their fall.

"Deal!"

Olivia's face was filled with delight.

Even as the supreme sovereign of the Nether Realm, Olivia had to admit at this moment that she was tempted. She was now full of expectations for Rhine Hyun.

"Then why wait for another day..."

Olivia said with a smile, "This child you brought with you seems rather fond of you. After hearing you say so many outrageously treasonous things—she still has not killed you."

Olivia looked at Rhine with a beaming smile. "Why not start with her now?"

"Her?" Rhine looked toward Constance.

Olivia's eyes burned with eager anticipation. "The fall of the first Imperial Guard—breaking her vows, offering her soul to me with humiliation and love in her heart. Rhine Hyun, believe me, I will grant you a blessing beyond anything you can imagine."